The Walt Disney Company has announced that it will pour $60 billion into its theme parks, cruise ships, and other attractions, in a bid to enhance the visitor experience and draw more fans. The gargantuan investment will include more money to expand Disney World in Florida despite the company’s ongoing political and legal war with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
The announcement follows a steady drumbeat of media and LGBTQ activist pressure for Disney to abandon Florida, or at least disinvest from the state — a campaign that was mostly just wishful thinking. Their rage-filled effort to reverse the state’s Parental Rights in Education Law has so far gone nowhere, with the law that protects school kids from radical LGBTQ indoctrination remaining in full effect.
On Tuesday, CEO Bob Iger led a presentation to investors at Disney World in Orlando, where the company said it had more than 1,000 acres of land available for development, including at Disneyland in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, and parks in Europe and Asia, according to multiple reports.
Disney plans to spend $60 billion to expand its theme parks, cruise lines and similar ventures over the next decade https://t.co/XhmsNt3JWM
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 19, 2023
Disney will also expand its cruise ship footprint throughout the Pacific region.
Drawing more people to Disney parks appears to be a top priority for the company.
“According to Disney’s internal research, there is an addressable market of more than 700 million people with high Disney affinity it has yet to reach with its Parks,” the company reportedly said. “In fact, for every one guest who visits a Disney Park, there are more than ten people with Disney affinity who do not visit the Parks.”
Theme parks have traditionally been reliably profitable for Disney, But as Bidenflation weighs heavily on households and Disney becomes more woke, more families are opting to stay away, resulting in reports of diminished attendance and troublingly short lines.
Disney and DeSantis are currently locked in a complex legal battle following the company’s effort to torpedo the state’s Parental Rights in Education law.
DeSantis revoked the company’s coveted self-governing status in the Orlando area, precipitating a flurry of lawsuits that are still working their way through Florida courts.
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